0021 The Way of Others

"I saw what you did boy...

... I've never met you before, but I know you had your reasons for getting lost in that insane way...

... Thank you for helping me in my revenge, my family is grateful to you, have a good rest...

... Two are gone and now there's only one left...".

A black man had his left hand resting on Lucius's chest, he thanked Lucius and then resumed his stealth walk through the darkened areas of the place.

^"Shit, those black aberrations made me lose your trail..."^.

He kept heading back towards the shed, and seeing the group in prayer, he was not sure if he would interact with them or if he would remain hidden as he had done all this time.

During the moment of pause, he saw a duo of young people heading towards the shed from the side opposite him, and he recognized them as being the friends of Lucius, to whom he made his thanks a few minutes ago, and so he got into a little dilemma.

^"I don't want to cause trouble with them around, out of respect for the boy...

... Only I lost track of my target, and I don't even know where to go now...

... I heard someone say that house across the way is troublesome, and this farmhouse should be investigated by these guys in white too...

... Maybe I should go to the farthest farm and wait for something new, or some news about my target..."^.

After another minute, he decided to head north and use the rice field to continue his hidden walk, wanting to go around the outside of Maycon's family farm and find the house that could be seen very tiny from the distance of the shed.

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On one of the higher parts of the rock formation, some bushes swayed as if a small animal were running at great speed, but with the darkness between the trees, it was impossible to make out what it was.

Arriving at the part where the rocks were at ground level, an open area allowed to see the ground in the low light of the night had the shadow of a tree that became ghostly revealing a living and moving silhouette, very different from the tree itself.

Like a veil, the shadow took on a three-dimensional shape as it rose from the ground to form volume, and like water the shadow opened with a peasant man stepping out of it, his body glowing indigo purple.

As he left the ground, he looked around doubtfully, then walked to the other side of the open area and passed some trees.

^"There is no one at the meeting point...

... Maybe they're all in the house I indicated yesterday?^".

With a few more turns between the trees, he noticed bloodstains on some bush leaves that were revealed by the dark purple light from his body, With his guard up, he walked quickly to check the bushes.

^"Shit... One of the Watchers!

What is this, it looks like he was bitten on the neck...

... Half of the body missing... Could it be some beast?

Or some mystical beast?"^.

Finishing analyzing the body, he followed the trail of blood to the southernmost area in the forest, and after several steps, he found the spot where the battle took place, the place was full of holes and rips in the ground, two or three trees felled in half, but there was no sign of the enemy, no blood, bits of beast flesh, nothing but bits of white armor and the blood of the dead Watcher.

^"First, that strange phenomenon in the sky...

... And now this... This night is going to be long..."^.

Wasting no time, he returned to the open area where there was lighting and stayed behind one of the shadows of the trees, the glow on his body took on intensity, illuminating the place even more, but his dark purple aura stopped rising and spilled onto the ground, mixing with the shadow.

In the next moment, the tree's shadow grew and expanded within the forest, so the man closed his eyes, and now his entire aura was hidden.

"^Several moves south and near the farms...

... If the Father is investigating the phenomenon, it is more productive if I follow these movements in the south..."^.

The enlarged shadow returned to its original tree-like origin and shape, the man, after opening his eyes, sank again into the shadow on the ground, which churned like waves of water, until his body was completely gone, and so the shadow on the ground moved once more, disappearing into the forest to the south.

**************************************************

"Help! Help me!".

"No! No!".

The policeman who had earlier run in panic was surprised by a large number of little Servants of the Mother, the shots of the revolvers were not very efficient, the shots of shotguns, on the other hand, managed to dismantle these frightening creatures.

Harris tried to help, but he ended up getting caught along and so the two went into despair.

As some people ran, a man appeared and kicked with all his might the head of one of the Servants of the Mother who was pulling Harris by the legs, and with that, Harris managed to turn his body and punch the second Servant of the Mother who was pulling on his left arm.

The two monsters didn't take any damage, they just released Harris, but to Harris' surprise, the servants walked away without insisting on capture.

"Thanks... Oh, is that you Peter?

"Thanks again, I owe my life to you man...".

"No need to thank me sir policeman...".

"You don't have to call me sir, and not even a policeman...

... Look around you, we're in a place that doesn't make sense...

... Just call me Harris, as I introduced myself before...".

The two men shook hands in agreement, then stopped to look around, all the other people had already disappeared, as for the terrain, there was a poorly made road close by that led to the main road, just as they were also a few dozen meters from the rock formation of the forest.

"Glad we managed to reach you, where's the other one?

Shit, what are we going to do now?".

Lucas had just reached Harris' position and asked for the other officer, but Harris just shook his head negatively, they were both upset and not knowing what to do, and just a few seconds later, Andrew appeared watching the group and quickly understood that it was now just the three of them as policemans.

"I think we failed in our duty...

... Many people died, and now many have been taken from us...

... And we don't even know where we are and what these things are...".

"At least it looks like these monsters are leaving...

... But what about us?".

Andrew was disappointed in himself in his role as society's protector, Harris was still helpless not knowing what to do or what would become of them now.

"I would like to go home...".

And in the end, Peter shyly told his wish and desire.

Hearing Peter's desire to want to return home, the trio of lost and disheartened police officers now had their minds cleared, and the new objective warmed their hearts, thus, the four agreed on the destiny they must follow from now on.

"The way we are now, we won't be able to save anyone...

... Let's get out of here and find a safe place to learn about all this and where we are, only then can we find a way to get back home...

... And when we find a way back, we'll look for the survivors and do our duty...".

"I think it's a good idea...".

"Which way do we go then?".

"For there! To town!".

Andrew said everything he thought, Harris who was almost captured, felt inadequate to continue helping people at the moment, so he agreed with Andrew's idea with a sad expression.

Lucas, who shared their sense of incompetence, decided to ask where they were going next, and Andrew just pointed east, mentioning the city he'll hear the young men mention.

"There are still a lot of people in the shed... Shall we go get them?".

"No... That white knight went back there...

... They chose to follow these people in white, we can't help but hope they get well, when we can, we come back and try to rescue them...".

"Andrew, so we'd better not go over the road...

... Let's stay close to the forest, and move on, but without entering it, we don't know what other types of monsters are out there...".

"Yes, it's a good idea, come on guys...".

Peter was worried about the people in the shed, but understanding that there was nothing the four of them could do alone, Lucas got the idea to stay close to the forest, and so the four went on their way trying to stay hidden.

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"Julia, let's go, it's dangerous here!".

"No... I believe this is the best place for me and my son...

... I need to have faith, just like my mother always taught me...".

"Stop it mom! It's not time to start with this again!".

"Nathan, you will do as I say...

... I am your mother and you will obey me!".

Alex arrived at the group calling for Julia who was determined to stay there, Nathan wanted to leave too, but his mother didn't want to listen to anyone, so Alex walked away and let Helena get closer to try to convince her.

"Julia, even if they don't do anything to you, we don't know anything about this place and them, what if...".

"Look, I recognize these two heretics...

... I remember our little interaction on the bus, where is that disrespectful friend of yours?".

The man saw Alex and Helena try to take Julia and her son away from the group that had arrived minutes earlier, and decided to intervene, with him, the others kneeling looked at the place when they heard the word 'heretic' from the mouth of their divine representative.

They got up and walked towards the commotion with angry looks, startling Alex, Helena and Nathan.

"Nobody is talking to you!".

"If you want to take a sheep from my flock, I have the right to intervene...".

"Get out of here you lunatic!".

"What?". "How disrespectful!". "Should we punish them?".

Helena tried to push the man away but his speech made Alex even more nervous to the point of calling him a lunatic, and this left people behind the man with dangerous looks, some even picked up pieces of wood and other objects from the floor with a clear intention of hitting Alex and Helena.

The teenagers on the other side were perplexed and turned away from their family and friends, just as Nathan tried to go to Alex's side but was held back by his mother.

"Shit mom, if I die it's your fault!".

Julia was torn between anger and doubt at her son's speech, and watching the reaction of people behind the man showing expressions of disgust and hatred.

"Nobody here is going to die boy, stay calm, we are the chosen of the Exalted lord!".

"What if any of you die?".

"It means that the person did not have enough faith...".

The man held Nathan's shoulder trying to dissuade him from leaving the group, and now it was Helena's turn to try to bring some reality to them, but the man went further, and made it clear that dying or living depends only on how much of a believer a person may be.

"He is coming back!".

One of the man's followers pointed into the distance, where the light of Envoy's white aura heralded his arrival, the armor that was once pure white with a bit of gold detailing, was now stained with red oozing from several round holes.

The sight of half of the Envoy's face destroyed showing exposed bones made the people watching his arrival even more afraid of him, but this time the man looked tired and unwilling to go after someone to kill.

"Let's go away Alex, we don't have time anymore...

... We tried and she doesn't want to come or let Nathan come together...".

"Goodbye Alex...".

Alex didn't want to give up, but seeing the Envoy arriving left him with no choice, then he took one last look at Julia and Nathan, with which Julia said goodbye, not wanting them to waste any more time there.

"All right Julia, take care... Be well Nathan!".

"Be well you too Alex, thanks for trying...

... Sorry, but I forgot your name, be well too!".

Julia didn't say another word, just watched Alex saying goodbye to her and Nathan, Nathan thanked her for trying to take him and wished Alex and Helena safety.

Wasting no more time, Alex and Helena passed the people who had now grown fearful of the Envoy's arrival, and ran north towards the rice fields.

"It's okay son, it's going to be okay...".

Nathan's eyes were wet wanting to cry, and he didn't even care about his mother hugging him, while the other people around went back to kneeling and praying.

"Come, let's pray together...

... My name is Vinicius, welcome to the group...".

The blue-eyed man pulled Julia into the group and introduced himself, leaving Nathan looking at the two of them and the Envoy arriving, feeling left out and annoyed, he noticed the other teenagers calling him to sit nearby, and with no other option, Nathan ran with a limp and sat down next to them.

**************************************************

Alex and Helena ran through the wreckage resulting from the dark phenomenon, as well as passing several bodies of people killed by the Envoy, but as he passed through the underground stairs, Alex saw a young man in torn clothes and bloodied up the stairs, and behind him a young scared girl looking all around.

The young man looked into Alex's eyes and opened his mouth as if to say something, but apparently he gave up when he noticed the Envoy coming in the distance, and just like that, Alex and Helena disappeared into the darkness of the rice field.